Zion: Light of the New Moon Part 2, Ch 1.2 Bannihar
Zion - Light of the New Moon, Part 2 Chapter 1.2
Bannihar The Long Road Ahead
Kayte and Jules spent time in the last post talking, as did Raes and Elesin; now it's time for Elias and Sebastian to share a dialogue with the same said for Roarg and Iskiy. The group will now be receiving + Delay and - Favor for their decision, but this may be subject to change based on future votes. For now, however, the party continues onward.
The vibrations in the earth caused by Elias' magical search for a specific type of rock might not have been easy to feel on the ground but, from Sebastian's perch high up in a nearby tree the tremors were very noticeable. The gryphon lost count as to the number of small, jagged-looking rocks the armadillo pulled up from the loose dirt. Though it was Sebastian's task to knock dead branches loose for use as firewood, he spent far more time watching the Geomancer at work than he did doing his job.
"Almost done up there?" Elias called up from below.
Sebastian chuckled, gripping a dark brown, leafless branch between two front digits and squeezing, letting his nails cut cleanly through the wood with his iron-taloned grip, "Whenever you are." he offered. The branch fell to the ground and, even though Elias was nowhere near it, he sidestepped regardless. "I think I'm going faster than you." Sebastian added. Despite the amount of time the grypon spent watching the armadillo it was undeniably faster for him to pull dead wood free than it was for the Geomancer to call flint up from beneath the surface of the earth.
"Well now you can start gathering it up." Elias noted, motioning around to the dozens of fallen branches interspersed throughout the grove.
"They said to knock the branches loose... they didn't say anything about collecting em." the gryphon objected. It was a playful kind of indignant response; he didn't TRULY mind helping out but he at least had to make a show of it so everyone would be reminded that he was NOT a beast of burden.
"Well now I'M saying something about collecting the wood." the armadillo scowled, obviously missing the gryphon's humor.
"Fine... fine..." Sebastian nimbly dropped down to ground level, "but I'm not carrying your rocks for you."
"I didn't ask you to." Elias stated in a flat tone.
"You don't joke around much, do you?" Sebastian inquired, lashing his tail once as he glanced to the gruff armadillo.
"In my line of work there's not a lot of time for humor." the Geomancer explained, running a claw along the pieces of flint. The stone responded to his touch, thinning out and gaining a razor-sharp edge. After each arrow-head was prepared, the armadillo moved them from the raw flint pocket to another pocket. "I didn't think most gryphons were the 'funny' type either."
"Most gryphons don't talk period." Sebastian pointed out, "Or walk on their hind legs." and, with that, he rose up onto his back, leonine paws and stood, wobbling with his wings for support. He remained vertical for several seconds before over-balancing and tumbling backwards to the ground, "I'm one of the rare talking gryphons, but I guess I'm like most of the others when it comes to the leg-thing."
Elias grunted, "Hmm... and you've always been a talking gryphon?" he turned around and headed back toward the camp, still 'carving' arrowheads; it was getting late and the others would be expecting supplies.
"Not always." Sebastian answered, righting himself and quickly getting to his feet. He padded nimbly after the armadillo, "I spent a lot of years like the rest of the gryphons."
"Eating people?" Elias questioned. The flat, casual, no-nonsense tone with which the Geomancer stated the words almost let the dry humor slide by Sebastian, but he caught sight of the subtle grin on the armadillo's muzzle.
"Only a few." Sebastian acknowledged, using the same tone, "Usually just armadillos... they taste the best."
Elias rolled his eyes in response, "So... what was it like suddenly being different?" the tone became much more casual, but also inquisitive.
Sebastian hadn't thought about the 'event' in a long time, and suddenly being asked about it made him stop. The Geomancer likewise came to a stop, glancing back at the gryphon. Feathers puffing out, Sebastian shook his whole body, "It felt."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Elias asked.
"Can you remember the last time you made a decision you regretted?" Sebastian inquired.
"Yes." the armadillo confirmed, "I think it had something to do with starting a conversation with a gryphon."
"Har har." the gryphon responded flatly, "What I mean is, before that moment when I changed, there were no regrets or second-guessings or questioning the way of things." he started walking again, "Everything happened the way it was supposed to. There wasn't a question of what was supposed to have happened, or what would have happened, or what's supposed to happen."
"So what do you mean by 'it felt'?" Elias asked, keeping pace with him.
"When you're not... like this..." the gryphon paused, trying to figure out how to explain it to someone who'd never been as he had been, "...then you just do things because they should be done. You don't have to decide what to do because it's part of who you are." he cocked his head to the side, "Does that make sense?"
"Not really." Elias answered.
"Alright..." the gryphon gave a half-flap of his wings, hoisting himself up onto his hind legs, walking clumsily along beside the armadillo, showing off that his earlier tumble was for show, "Think of it this way: when I first met Roarg I was part of an enormous attack on Bannihar."
"What?" the Geomancer stopped in his tracks.
Sebastian went back to a much more comfortable position for walking, dropping to all fours, "Two dozen gryphons, a couple packs blood beasts, and a talon-ful of Snap Jaws... we attacked Bannihar a few years ago."
"WHY?!?" Elias demanded.
"That's my point." the gryphon answered, "There isn't a 'why'... we did because that's what we were supposed to do."
"There has to be a reason." the armadillo pressed.
"Maybe... or maybe not." Sebastian shrugged, "I've thought about it a lot since that day, but never during the attack." he glanced toward the Geomancer, "Reflecting on our actions is a luxury other gryphons don't have."
"What you're suggesting is that animals are puppets to fate? Or Destiny? Or some other external force?" questioned Elias.
"Yes." the gryphon nodded, "I think you summed that up really well." he lashed his tail offering a flick of the tip.
"You could have said that in the first place." Elias note gruffly.
"But then we would have had a very short conversation, and I've found out that people usually understand it better when they work through it themselves." Sebastian offered a beaky grin.
"You've had to explain it to someone before?" the armadillo questioned.
"A few times now." Sebastian nodded, "Hasn't anyone ever asked you about your stuff?"
"My stuff?" Elias repeated.
"Yea... your 'spell stuff'." the gryphon grinned.
"What about 'my stuff'?" the Geomancer questioned.
"How do you explain what it feels like to people who ask?"
"I've done it for as long as I can remember... it's like breathing." Elias answered, "How can you explain breathing to something that doesn't breathe?"
"So... you don't bother?" Sebastian asked.
"Nope."
The rather simple answer stalled the conversation for nearly a minute. The two walked in silence as Sebastian contemplated the best way to get a much more animated response from the armadillo. "Okay... so what about Kayte?" the gryphon asked at length.
"....what about her?" Elias glanced over toward him, one ear back, reserved.
"What does THAT feel like?" the gryphon inquired with a beaky grin. The question resulted in the animated response he was seeking.
Roarg sat on a rock overlooking the small dale that lay before them. The Highway led down into the lower elevation and disappeared into the thickly wooded valley. Beside him, Iskiy Thrush, the party's last surviving guide sat quietly, securing feathers to the smoothly crafted arrow shafts the two had spent the early evening creating.
"Thank you again for helping me get the feathers, Mr. Roarg." the antlered wolf noted politely, glancing his way after finishing off yet another set of fletching.
"No problem." the badger responded, "I've always been good with a sling, and they'll make a good stew once Sebastian gets back with some firewood." he glanced over to the Wild Lander, "And no 'Mr'... just call me Roarg."
"I'm glad Mr. Hewen didn't object to the idea of helping with the flint." Iskiy added.
Roarg had enough experience with shy individuals to know that the wolf was trying in his own way to establish a rapport; the badger smiled inwardly and decided to help things along, "Well, Elias never seems to pass up a chance to be productive and I think he's been starting to feel a little useless lately since we haven't involved his talents with the earth so much." he offered the scout a wink, "To be honest, I think you did him more of a favor than he's doing you."
Iskiy's ears fell slightly, reddening on the furless insides, "Oh... I don't know about that... arrows are very important."
"And so is staying busy to him." Roarg countered.
"I'm just glad that he said yes." Iskiy explained, "The only time I have to find flint is once we set camp, and by then it's already getting dark."
"You spend most of that time scouting." the badger pointed out.
"Knowing what's around us is important." the antlered wolf offered, "It could mean the difference between a safe camp site and..." one of his ears fell, then his other one joined it, "Um... a not safe one."
"Life and death." Roarg noted succinctly.
"Right." Iskiy nodded.
"And what'd ya find tonight? the badger inquired. mirthfully carrying the brunt of the conversation as he watched the wolf's muzzle continue to cycle though dozens of expressions, obviously not used to a talk with such a long duration.
Iskiy pointed to the Highway as it sloped down into the dale, "The Highway passes through Sylvan lands." he noted.
"And that's a problem?" Roarg questioned. He didn't know a lot about the Wild Lands, but he knew that Sylvans were not good news.
"It may be, or may not be." the wolf noted hesitantly, "Sylvans usually don't notice what goes on outside their eyesight and they are usually distracted. The only thing that ALWAYS draws their attention is magic."
"And we don't want their attention." Roarg guessed.
"Right." the scout nodded.
"But they should leave us alone as long as we don't draw their attention?" the badger inquired.
"They SHOULD." Iskiy stressed.
"So we should avoid using magic while we're down there." Roarg noted, motioning to the low lands.
"Um..." the wolf paused, fidgeting.
"Um?" the badger questioned.
"Magic or Divine effects." the Wild Lander elaborated, "Sylvans can sense both."
"So no spells or prayers." Roarg clarified.
"Or using the Divine Shields." Iskiy added.
"Tah'aveen's divine ass, Iskiy!" the stonemason blurted, "That's almost crippling!"
The wolf nodded, shirking back a little at the exclamation, "But anything else would probably call them like moths to a flame."
"So you think our best bet is to stick to the road, go fast, and press through the Sylvan lands?" Roarg asked with a sigh.
"It's the fastest option." Iskiy noted, "Otherwise we'll have to take the long way around." he motioned on a northern direction with a wave of a finger, "That might add a few more days to the trip... and we'll be leaving the Highway."
"So, we leave the Highway but get to use magic, prayer, and the Divine Shield..." Roarg rubbed the fur at the end of his chin, "...we follow the Highway but we get no magic, no prayer and," he sighed, "no Divine Shields..."
"But we get the Highway's protection." Iskiy reminded him.
"Right." the badger nodded, then glanced back to the wolf, "Any other options?" he asked, looking to the south, "The valley doesn't go as far southward."
"There's a river that exits the southern part of the valley... you can't see it because it's blocked by the trees."
"So we'd have to ford it?" Roarg questioned.
Iskiy shrugged, "I don't know how deep it is... we may have find a way to cross."
"Well... we can use magic as long as we're not near the Sylvans... so that shouldn't be a problem." the badger noted, "And it's shorter going that way than north."
"But rougher terrain... I don't know how well The Risen will take it." Iskiy admitted.
"It's something to think about." Roarg acknowledged, "I guess we'll consider our options and get everyone's feedback in the morning."
"And night-watch until then." the wolf confirmed. Both of them paused at the sound of Sebastian crashing through the underbrush, squawking something about a wild armadillo out for blood.
"Night watch will have to wait." Roarg noted with a smirk as he stood, "Right now I have a gryphon to save."
* * * * *
Chapter 1 continues for the travelers from Bannihar. We pick up the story a few days after the party escaped the huge undead swarm.
Post number 2 follows Elias and Sebastian as they head out to pick up supplies for the campsite and then jumps to Iskiy and Roarg as they sit watch and discuss the party's next set of plans.
Based on the possibilities as the two went over them, the Banniharian group is now presented with the following options for travel:
1) Travel along the Highway, going through the Sylvan Lands. (+ Danger, - Favor) 2) Go north and take the long way around the Sylvan Lands. (++ Delay) 3) Go south over rough terrain because it isn't quite as long a detour. (+ Delay, - Luck)
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